The General Assembly also called for an immediate end to attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure after weeks of escalation.
The resolution is titled Safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been approved with 99 countries support and 9 countries oppose (Belarus, Burundi, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria). Sixty member states abstained..
Nuclear needs
Resolution requests Russia “urgently withdraw military and other unauthorized personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and “immediately return” the plant to full Ukrainian control – to ensure safety and security.
“[The Assembly] calls on the Russian Federation, until the return of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant… to provide the International Atomic Energy Agency (International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)) The Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia shall have timely and full access to all areas at the plant that are important for nuclear safety and security so that the Agency can fully report on the nuclear safety and security situation at the site,” the resolution said.
The draft resolution was introduced by Ukraine and sponsored by more than 50 other countries, including France, Germany and the United States.
Ukraine: Radiation knows no borders
In the introduction to the text, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was deliberately made an integral part of Russia’s military strategy and warned that the consequences of an accident there would be catastrophic.
“Radiation has no borders,” he said, adding that radioactive fallout could travel long distances and affect areas far from the site of the incident.
He said the draft resolution fully supports the mandate of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and emphasizes the importance of the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security outlined by the IAEA Director General.
He called on all countries to vote in favour of the resolution, stressing that “we have a responsibility to future generations to ensure that the horrors of nuclear disaster are not repeated”.
Russia: A fake nuclear package
Explaining his country’s position ahead of the vote, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy, said the draft resolution was harmful, heavily politicized and had nothing to do with nuclear safety.
“The real goal is to use this fake nuclear package to sneak in political elements that have nothing to do with the issue at hand, and even a cursory glance at the text makes that clear,” he said.
He also said the draft resolution’s sponsors had resorted to non-inclusive and non-transparent working methods, “firmly rejecting” any amendments from some delegations that sought to depoliticize the draft.
He accused Ukraine of posing a real threat to nuclear safety and security and of carrying out regular and reckless attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, related infrastructure and the nearby city where plant workers and their families live.
